1April 2017

supplements our printed

In the Feb 2014 issue of beaveRTales we reported that the IPMS Calgary (aka Rocky Mountain Model Club) website had been hacked by Italians from the Darknet. We’re happy to report that the IPMS Calgary Libera­tion Army has taken its website back and sent the evildoers running back to their hiding plac­es. Their website is now up at www.rockymountainmodelclub.ca

April2017Edition

Under a policy instituted by the local Ottawa Chap­ter, any member of IPMS Ottawa who gets a new IPMS Canada membership, or renews their existing membership, receives a partial reimbursement of the fee. A great idea, and kudos to the Ottawa Chapter. Any other local chapters that would like to try some­thing similar can contact Ottawa chapter president, Glenn Cauley – president@ipmsottawa.com – for de­tails on how it works.

As reported in the last RT, our survey of expired members yielded some interesting feedback. A couple members felt that the material provided in RT (and beaveRTales) was too skewed towards the ex­perienced modeller. Younger members – and newer modellers in general – would probably rather have some more basic information on the skills that many of us take for granted. To this end we have decided to actively solicit and try to present more “beginner” material in each issue of beaveRTales... more basic modelling material, more “how­to” articles, more hints­n­tips and such. In this issue you’ll find the first of our BACK TO BASICS articles, from Norm Sheppard of New Brunswick. Rather than provide info on paintbrushes or scribing panel lines, Norm takes us through an entire build... without using additional accessories or super detailing. It’s a nice simple yet enjoyable build; informative and instructive, but well within the abili­ties of all modellers. It’s a great start to our BACK TO BASICS program.

A ‘thumbs up’ to theOttawa Chapter

Does this issue look a bit thinner than usual?Well, it is! beaveRTales doesn’t go out look­ing for material to fill the pages. We just pass on what you, the members send to us. So... if you’ve been building something cool, or if you’ve discovered a new technique, or if your chapter had a good meeting, or if you tried a new paint that didn’t work, or if you saw an interesting model, or if you want to tell everyone how great your hobby shop is, or if you found an interesting new book, or if you have something to say about anything model­related... let’s hear from you! box626@ipmscanada.com

2April 2017

IPMS Ottawa reports they will be hosting CAPCON 2017 – the premiere biennial Scale Plastic Model Contest in Canada’s capital – on Saturday, Septem-ber 30, 2017, at the Canadian War Museum! They have been steadfastly working together since 2015 to make this happen — in an effort to help celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in style!CAPCON attracts plastic model enthusiasts & build­ers from all across Canada, the United States, and Europe. In past years, CAPCON has been featured in various modelling magazines such as FineScale Modeler.Everyone is welcome to attend the event. For those who are not entering models into competition, don’t worry... there will be plenty of great deals to be found in the Vendor Room, and a silent auction as well, not to mention the attractions of the museum itself. In fact, on the day of CAPCON 2017, the Museum will also be holding its Awesome Tank Weekend live mili­tary vehicle demonstrations. The Model Contest (and silent auction) will be located in the LeBreton Gallery (amongst full­size military exhibits), while the Vendor Room will be located in the Barney Danson Theatre (just off the main foyer).Contest entry fees for adults and juniors remains unchanged at $20 and $5 respectively (for unlimited model entries). Additionally, all entrants in the model contest will receive free admission to the Museum as part of their CAPCON 2017 entry fee.On­site (paid) parking will be available in the Muse­um’s underground parking lot; this is not covered in the CAPCON 2017 entry fee, and all attendees must pay for that separately.

For more info go to: www.ipmsottawa.com/capcon/

While for the last several years we have been order­ing just the exact number of RTs needed plus only a few extra copies to cover problems, we still have some very old stock that needs to be dealt with in some way. The leftover copies currently fill floor space in the Editor’s basement that would enhance domestic bliss if they were eliminated. So this is a heads­up that we will be liquidating the stock of RTs that are from before the current era of the journal (i.e., before with Vol. 31).The offer is going to be fairly straightforward – for ‘x’ dollars plus the cost of shipping you can have up to so many RTs. For ‘x’ dollars more, plus the addi­tional cost of shipping, you can have up to so many more RTs. Pretty simple arrangement, we hope. (The actual numbers in this equation are being crunched even as we speak.)Our members get first kick at the cat. If all the back issues are taken, nothing would please us more. The problem would be gone and we’d all be happy.Once the details are finalized (i.e. various costs and what’s available) we will send out a special email no­tification to the entire membership to put in their re­quests – the first to respond gets first choice. Once we sort out who gets what, you will receive a PayPal invoice via email. You’ll settle up your bill by Pay­Pal account if you have one or by credit card if you don’t, then we’ll ship out your RTs. Be warned that Canada Post postage rates are not cheap. We’ll have the details in the email to help with your planning. You will need to keep this in mind when you think about ordering.The contents of past issues of RT can be found here: http://www.ipmscanada.com/ipms/ipmsRT.html

If it turns out that no members want them, then they will be recycled with a clear conscience and a heavy heart...

Any questions may be sent to RT@ipmscanada.com

3April 2017

I know everyone (well... almost everyone) liked the free decals sent to all our members last year. Oh, come on... it’s not that long ago! There was a sheet of cool T­33 markings, and then a sheet of Canadian home­based Hurricanes!Well, we’re thinking of doing it again, but maybe a little differently this time. The previous free sheets were accompanied by large, in­depth articles on the subjects covered. Indeed, the Hurricanes were start­ing to rival the “CH­113 that wouldn’t die” saga!We thought that this time we might just provide markings for some interesting or unusual or over­looked items, and provide a couple of illustrations and brief description, not unlike you’d get on a decal sheet instructions – here’s your markings; here’s what they are; here’s where they go; here’s what it looks like. You want in­depth research, go do it on your own. For one thing, it would let us have a wider variety of different subjects on the sheet. What do you think about this approach?The same proviso still applies: If there’s something you would like to have markings for, please let us know. BUT... don’t just tell us you’d like squadron badges for the Humbly­Pudge Gallipoli heavyish bomber. If you want something, provide us with the research and all we need to produce them. Our art department (again, that’s a joke) doesn’t have the time to track down photos, colours, drawings or histories. And of course, we’d like to concentrate on Canadian subjects.We’d also really like to see some non­aircraft subject matter this time. That could take the form of AFVs, cars, or whatever.

Any thoughts?... or better yet, information? Contact us at box626@ipmscanada.com

on the Avro Arrow article in RT 39/1

Norm Sheppard, C3167 writes...“I have read several stories and articles written about the good ole CF­105 Arrow and just wanted to bring something to light. First off, I just received my RT and read the first part of Richard Clairoux’s incred­ible RL-203 build. That is some intense stuff. But back to my reason for this letter... lots of people call the Arrows that were built “Prototypes”, but in fact there were NO Arrow prototypes. In a radical depar­ture from accepted aircraft manufacturing norms (as Avro Canada seemed to do often during this project) the design team at Avro decided to build all CF­105 aircraft, including RL­201, as full production Mark 1 models, using factory jigs and fixtures. I believe that 206 would have been the first Mark 2. This meantthat all aircraft produced would be allowed to go into service, with no wasted effort for a hand built proto­type or two, as virtually all other manufacturers did. “I’m not sure if the first five a/c were to be fitted with Orendas after they became available, but I wouldn’t doubt that it was the plan, since the Canadian engine was so superior to the J­75. I have talked to several people that were employed at Avro Canada over the years and read many books about the beast, so I know these facts to be true. Just a bit of aviation knowledge from an old guy.”

Richard Clairoux, C3109 replies...“Regarding RL201­205 being prototypes only or could have been in­service too: we will never know what would have happened with those aircraft in RCAF service. Yes, the RCAF may have kept them for various tests or even training purposes. I doubt however that they would have been used as first-line interceptors unless they got a major upgrade. What is sure however is that the RCAF had made a lot of comments about maintenance access being inade­quate, and RL206 and others would have had differ­ences in access panels (that is why I was careful not  to use the nose panels of Ottawa’s 206 on my Ar­row) in addition to the Orenda engines of course. So maybe the correct wording would have been ‘’pre­production’’ instead of ‘’prototype’’. Please thank M. Sheppard for his comments!”

4April 2017

I have been building plastic model kits since 1960, and the changes that have oc­curred in the hobby since then are enormous, some­times even overwhelm­ing. Now, with ultra detail­ing, hundreds of tiny parts, photo­etch and resin up­grades, just buying and building a model can be a very expensive, compli­cated and time consuming project. I thought it would be refreshing to build a simple, basic aircraft kit with no extras or add­ons... something a beginner can sink his teeth into as a fun way to get started in this wonderful world of miniature replicas. The whole idea here is to enjoy the experience of building the thing, and enjoy the finished product, without spending a lot of money or investing a lot of time. The subject of this article is an old model I acquired at a flea market – a 1981 issue 1/72nd scale Hasegawa/Minicraft F4U­1D Corsair. (Photo 1) It’s very easy to assemble with only 34 parts in total and simple to paint since the whole air­frame is one colour, Gloss Sea Blue. It’s the perfect way for a beginning modeller to step into the hobby, or even a way for an experienced builder to relax and enjoy the simplicity of it.

The kit is moulded in dark blue plastic, as were most Naval aircraft kits of the period. The parts fit together nicely and there is very little flash

to deal with. Even though it had been sitting in a box for 35 years, the decals seemed to be intact. I was hoping they would not cause any grief when it came time to apply them. So let’s get started! It’s always a good idea to look over the sprues before you start,

(Photo 2) especially with an older kit that’s been sit­ting around for a while, just in case something is mis­sing or damaged. All seems to be well with our little Corsair, and construction can begin.I like to take care of the interior details first, the wheel bays and doors, cockpit and engine all should be painted before assembly. There are arguments

about cor­rect colours to be used, but to sim­plify things on this model, the inside bits will be zinc chromate green and the out­side mainly

Gloss Sea Blue. I normally airbrush the green and then pick out small details with whatever colours are required at the time. Leather for headrests, black for instrument panels, silver, white, red, green and yel­low for switches and warning lamps, etc. Pratt and Whitney engines had dark grey crankcases, steel coloured cylinders and aluminum heads. Dry brush­ing can add highlights and make the details more visible if you want that effect. In this scale, not a lot is

Forget extra details...keep Hasegawa’s little Corsair simple*

by Norm Sheppard C3167

* This model was finished using an airbrush, and the article is written as such. If you are brush-painting your models just use some common sense in your choice of paint types, and most of the same tech-niques can be applied.

5April 2017

visible on the inside, so it’s all optional for the builder. With the canopy closed you need not spend a lot of time on the cockpit unless you want to. At this point I also paint the little fiddley bits: propellers, tires, land­ing gear legs, etc. Most of these small parts can be painted while still attached to the sprue, it’s easier to keep track of them that way and after you cut them off, you can touch up that area with a brush. As I paint all of these parts, I write down the paint manu­facturer and colour number on the instructions (i.e. Tamiya X­2 White) so that I can refer back to it later during touch up. I personally have amassed hun­dreds of different paints, from more than 8 manufac­turers, and my 62 year old brain needs all the help it can get when it comes to remembering these things! It reduces the frustration factor later on in the build,

no matter what your age is.Some help­ful tips when you are painting the small stuff: to put yellow tips on the prop blades,

paint the ends white first, then yellow over that. It would take four or more coats of yellow over dark blue plastic to give a proper shade. I use a white primer like Mr. Surfacer but any type will work.Once the yellow is dry, cut small pieces of masking tape and lay them on the tips before you spray the blade colour (Photo 3) I prefer Polly Scale Tarnished Black for props. It makes them look a bit faded and used. Some Corsairs had black propeller hubs, but some were natural aluminum. For tires, you can mix up your own tire colour with flat black or very dark grey and a touch of brown in it, or use one of the many tire colours that are available. I always weather

them a bit afterwards with Tamiya Weathering Mas­ter colours since tires on a real aircraft don’t stay black for very long. Or just use flat black, it’s all up to you. Some people paint the landing gear struts on Corsairs sea blue like the airframe, but I like the look of silver on a dark model. (Photo 4) Same with the wheels, the aluminum colour gives a good contrast to all that dark blue. We’re not trying to win an accur­acy contest here, just having fun building a model. I like Alclad airbrush ready metal colours but any hand painted silver will work as well.The inside storyNow that most of the smaller parts are painted on the sprues, let’s move on to the fuselage assembly. The instrument panel in this kit is a decal of white details which is applied to a flat panel which should be painted gloss black, since decals adhere very well to gloss surfaces. (Photo 5) The decal is a tiny bit larger than the panel in this case, so I used some decal soft­ener to help it wrap around the edges. Don’t try to trim the decal, es­pecially in older kits... it will prob­ably break

apart or fail to cooperate in some way. After it has dried, you can cement the panel to the right hand fusel­age half, as the instructions indi­cate. Then in­stall the cockpit floor with seat

and offer up the left fuselage to check the alignment of the parts and the fit of the two halves. (Photo 6 If all looks good, cement them together and clamp or hold the parts until the glue sets up. I use Tamiya Ex­tra Thin Cement most of the time for smaller kits like this because it flows along seams nicely. When the parts fit together as well as they do in this kit, it gives a very strong bond. A handy feature of this model kit is the one piece lower wing half, which takes the guesswork out of the wing alignment. With the left

6April 2017

and right up­per wing halves in place you just cement the whole as­sembly to the fuselage. The fit here is excel­lent as well, and very little filler is needed for the joints. Once the wing is in place, attach the horizontal tail parts and check the alignment as the glue sets (Photo 7) I couldn’t stop myself from adding a couple of details at this point, using just a drill bit and a hobby knife. The exhaust pipes on this Corsair exit in two groups low down on the fuselage behind the engine cowl­ing, but they need a little help to look better. I used a very small drill bit to open the pipes for a more real­istic look. Later in the construction process I paint­ed them rust colour. Also, the wing gun shell ejec­tion ports are depicted on the underside of the wing by just depressions, but it’s easy to open them up. Again, use a small bit and drill open each end of the depression, then with a sharp pointed hobby knife, carefully cut out the plastic between the drill holes. It just looks better to me.Paint the airframeWith the main airframe assembled, the next step is to cover up the cockpit to prepare for paint­ing the exterior. The best method that I have found is to simply cement the canopy in place, (Photo 8) mask off the clear areas either with liquid

masking or a set of pre­cut canopy masks. I always dip the clear parts in Pledge Floor Care Multi­Sur­face Finish (called Future in Canada) first, which pro­tects the part and improves the clarity. I paint the canopy frame with the interior colour first, since that will be visible on the inside later. (Photo 9) On this kit, the landing gear doors fit the wheel wells perfect­ly, which allows you to cover up the gear bays and paint the doors in one step. Just use some office type sticky tack under the doors, (Photo 10) which holds them in place under the wings and at the rear fuselage. Any small holes such as the ones in the tailwheel doors can be filled with sticky tack. Since there is no way to hold the airframe for painting, drill an appropriate sized hole at the front of the fuselage and use a small paintbrush handle or something sim­ilar in the hole to hang on to. (Photo 11) After sand­

ing any filled areas, the whole assembly is primed to help show any faults in the surface, but don’t forget the engine cowling and the drop tank. I used Alclad 2 Lacquer light grey primer/micro-filler, (Photo 12) which goes on very nice­ly using my Iwata HP/C airbrush and gives a good semi­gloss finish which shows any defects easily. Since the final colour will be dark blue, a lighter primer is best. Always try to have a good contrast between your primer and your final paint colour whenever possible so you can tell if you have good coverage.After the primer has fully cured, apply the Gloss Sea Blue overall and let that dry thoroughly. I used Test­

7April 2017

ors Model Mas­ter Acrylic Gloss Dark Sea Blue (FS15042) with nearly 40% Li­quitex airbrush medium to help in the spraying process. The air­ brush medium reduces the viscosity of water based paints and ex­tends the drying time somewhat, to reduce tip clog­ging common to those paints. The gloss finish will simplify the decal application process. (Photo 13) To paint the navigation lights on the wingtips, apply silver paint to the area (Photo 14) and let it dry thoroughly. Then use clear red and clear green over the silver, red on the left wing (Photo 15) and green on the right. Use a dab of silver for the tail light.

The finishing touchesMy biggest worry during this build was the decals. The instrument panel decal had worked fine, so I was hoping for the best. As it turned out, the 35­year old decals went on perfectly (Photo 16) with the help of Mr. Hobby decal solvents. Mr. Mark Setter and Mr. Mark Softer allow the markings to conform to surface details and adhere to the paint. The red and white check­er boards were slightly out of regis­ter, but not enough to worry about. However, the Hamil­ton Standard logos for the prop blades were not useable, so I dug through my spares box to find some better ones. If you used a matte colour for the blades, apply a coat of clear gloss (paint or Future) so the decals will adhere and not silver. Then, when the decals are dry, apply clear matte finish later and install the prop.

If you find yourself building a very old kit and the decals fall apart when dipped in the water, don’t panic. You can usually find many different decal sets from the aftermarket companies, and there are plenty for Corsairs of this type. Allow the decals to dry overnight before attempting any further work.Once they have cured, apply a clear overcoat to pro­tect them. In this case, I airbrushed Future floor fin­ish over the entire model and let it dry for a couple of days, then sprayed it with Mr. Colour semi­gloss clear. On a military aircraft it looks more realistic than a super high gloss finish. After another drying spell, you can remove the wheel doors and the canopy masking, then attach the main gear, tail wheel and the doors. The front antenna goes on last, but if you are going to rig an antenna wire, attach it to the front mast first (Photo 17) with some cyanoacrylate (super) glue. On this Corsair, the antenna wire runs from the front mast back to the an­chor point on the rudder, and then forward to the up­per right side of the fusel­age just behind the canopy, where you will need to drill a tiny hole. Hold the line with tweezers and pull it tight to the rudder mast and apply a small drop of fast setting glue while holding it there. After it cures, grab the line with tweezers again and stretch it for­ward to the hole you drilled on the fuselage. Put a tiny drop of glue in the hole and insert the end of the line, keeping your tool away from the adhesive.Your little U.S. Navy Fighter is now complete, ready to display on your shelf. With older kits like this still available and quite affordable, you can build a realis­tic replica like I did in about 16 hours, including dec­als and rigging. Some of the smaller details may not be 100% accurate, but as I said before, lets build for the fun of it and enjoy the results.

8April 2017

when those bottles are inserted in the jaws of the clamp sideways, as these are exactly the same width as the height of the 23mm bottles. I drilled those two holes at precisely 3 3/4” and 4” from the bottom of the upper jaw. The rubber pad will help with the tol­erance, and with the prevention of lateral movement of the paint jar; the elastic is a further prevention the jar will not “jump” laterally.

The metal screw in the photograph below is neces­sary, as the repeated use of the “mixer” will fairly shortly and inevitably destroy the ratchet mechanism within the clamp crank

What you need : a jigsaw (I used a Canadian Tire Jobmate, 54-8201-6); a Canadian Tire Mini Clamps, 4-in, 2-Pk, 57-2582-8; a self-adhesive 3/4” round 1/16” thick rubber pad; a 1” metal screw; and an elastic. You will need metal drill bits to drill the holes through the clamp and a metal saw to reduce the length of the clamp.

Make sure the jigsaw you will use has the capability of attaching the shaft of the clamp as per the photo­graph below; grinding down the base tip of the shaft with the aim to insert it as you would a jig saw blade will weaken the shaft and it will break almost im­mediately. Strip the saw of all superfluous parts.

Proficient, sturdy, and inexpensive. All that’s missing is duct tape!

Before attaching the shortened clamp to the saw, drill two holes on the shaft of the clamp, positioned to very snugly accommodate both 10mm and 23mm Tamiya Acrylic bottles; the 23mm hole will be very useful to shake all Tamiya Liquid Primers and others

23ml

10ml

1” screw

9April 2017

In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, three performers – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson – joined their pilot Roger Peterson for what was supposed to be a flight to their next tour stop. But the passengers and pilot never made it to their destination. Instead the four were involved in a deadly crash that took the lives of all aboard. This tragedy has been remembered in song and legend as “The Day the Music Died.”The three acts, along with Dion and the Belmonts, were on a package tour called the Winter Dance Party, which was to play 24 Midwestern cities in as many days. But the bus’ heating system malfunc­

tioned, and broke down after only a few days. Some musicians contracted the flu and Holly’s drummer, Carl Bunch, had to be hospitalized for frostbite. They played the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on Feb. 2, about a week and a half into the tour. Af­ter the show Holly decided to charter a plane and fly from nearby Mason City to Fargo, North Dakota, just across the state line from their next gig in Moorhead, Minnesota. Snow blew across the runway but the sky was clear. Around 12:55 AM Peterson received clearance from the control tower, taxied down the runway and took off. Snow began falling almost immediately after

take­off. The plane stayed in the air for only a few minutes; no one is quite sure what went wrong. The best guess is that Peterson, who was not instrument rated, flew directly into the blizzard, and became disoriented. It has also been speculated that the aircraft was improperly loaded with the passengers and their baggage. The early Beech Bonanzas had a very small margin of error for cen­tre­of­gravity location.

The severity of the impact can be seen from this photo. Very little is left of the aircraft cabin.

Beechcraft 35 BonanzaN3794N

Gavrilo Princip, IPMS Creeping Stubble

10April 2017

The aircraft was an original series Beechcraft 35 Bo­nanza, built in 1947. Compared to later versions – as depicted in various model kits – the original Bonanza had only two side cabin windows. The “V” tail was also different, being 20% narrower in chord, and at a 30° angle as opposed to 35° in later versions. The early Bonanzas also had a two-piece windscreen. With a little research, it certainly is a doable conver­sion. The only real difficulty is determining the pre­cise colour scheme.In 1947 Bonanzas were not fully painted from the factory, rolling out in natural metal finish with only ac­cent stripes for color. Some customers opted to have their aircraft privately painted, so it’s not as simple as looking for a “standard” scheme.The crash photos show overall red wings with white tips and black registration. The tail planes appear overall white with red tips. The fuselage has a low demarcation with the red on the bottom, white on top, and black cheat line trim between the two. There’s a small black registration near the tail.

A rare colour photo of the crash site. Note the red wing with black registration.

An original ver-sion Beechcraft 35. Note the two cabin windows and narrower tailplane...

...compared to a later version, as kitted in plastic.

11April 2017

Building this famous – or infamous – aircraft is en­tirely possible, as it has been issued in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale by a number of manufacturers. The two best and easiest to find are probably the 1/48 Acad­emy/Minicraft kit, or the 1/72 scale Arii version. With a bit of research you should be able to convert either kit of the later version, to the early airframe. A good place to start is this Modeling Madness article which deals with the conversion to an early aircraft, in this case of the Israeli Air Force: http://modeling­madness.com/review/korean/us/staabsv35.htm

There are no publicly available photos of N3794N taken before the crash. Close examination and re-construction from a number of crash photos yields this as a probable colour scheme. It shouldn’t be too difficult to paint using some very thin strips of masking tape.

Left: The 1/48 Academy/Minicraft kit has appeared in several boxings over the years. Above: the 1/72 Arii kit. Both are apparently out of production, but can still be found.

12April 2017

In my model building lifetime, I have progressed through a good number of airbrushes. At the beginning, I did not really know how to use them or care for them properly, but I did the best that I could. As time & experience built up, I began to appreciate the finer points of each airbrush, or discover their limitations.

Glenn Cauley, C3359, IPMS Ottawa

Single action spray gun, external mix, siphon feedCan I even call this an airbrush? Sure, why not!It was my very first airbrush, so I will call it what I want.Being a young modeller, I knew almost nothing about airbrushes other than they were supposed to give bet­ter results than brush painting. As such I probably broke every rule about airbrushing: I did not clean it enough, I tipped it over many times, I didn’t thin the paint properly. Things got very messy (understate­ment). I was also using cans of compressed propel­lant. <big sigh>But nonetheless, it introduced me to the world of air­brushing.

I consider this to be my first “real” airbrush, and it was a marked improvement over the spray gun I first had. I used this airbrush for years. Sure I mangled the met­al parts using pliers trying to disassemble it, but who hasn’t?

Airbrush #2Badger 350

Single action, external mix, siphon feed

First airbrush (long ago)Badger 250 spray gun

Airbrush #3 – Badger 200 This was my first internal mix airbrush, and I appreci­ated the all­metal construction. It was easy to use, dis­assemble, and clean... many times the parts ended up soaking in lacquer thinner in an aluminum pie plate. I still budged the threads on the air valve (trying to re­move it with pliers) and I cross-threaded the airline fit­ting, but overall it was solid and easy to use. I learned finer spray control using this beauty.

The day I got this airbrush was the day that I felt I had graduated to the big leagues. At first I was ham-fisted in my paint control – not knowing how to press & pull the trigger at the same time – but I quickly got better. Disassembly/cleaning was not an enjoyable task, as I found the internal bits to be very small and fiddly. I was still using siphon­feed airbrushes at that point.

Single action, internal mix, siphon feed

Double­action, internal mix, siphon feed

Airbrush #4Badger 150

13April 2017

Cue the “oohs” and “ahhs” and even some groans. The Aztec airbrush was a “learning experience” for sure. When I got the Aztec airbrush set, I was to­tally stoked. It came in a fancy wooden clamshell case, it had 6 different nozzles, it could be used as either siphon­feed or a side­feed (with several differ­ent cup sizes), and it just plain looked COOL... some­thing ahead of its time. The concept of having easily replaceable, self­contained nozzles was innovative. I could change nozzles easily in less than a minute; no more digging into the guts of the beast and matching needles with nozzles.I tried it for a year, and I honestly tried to like it. But I found that the nozzles clogged easily even with regular cleaning, and using strong solvent­based paints dete­riorated the hard­resin nozzle parts. Eventually I tried disassembling the nozzles to clean the wee bits, but by then I was getting fed up. I went back to my Badger airbrushes and put the Aztec in a safe place to keep the dust bunnies company.

Airbrush #5 – Aztec

Double­action, internal mix,replaceable nozzles

Many years passed as I was on a hiatus from model building. When I returned to the hobby in 2005, I treat­ed myself to a new­to­me airbrush... the Iwata Revolu­tion CR. And so began my love affair with Iwata.The Revolution CR was a bit of a change for me, but it was definitely a step up in many respects: simpler but high-quality parts, large airline fitting, gravity feed, super-easy disassembly & cleaning. The thing that im­pressed me over the Badger 150 was the quality of the parts, and that the internal bits were more robust and not as wee or fiddly as Badger’s. I could achieve fairly fine spray effects with this airbrush, and I really liked the integrated colour cup (though I did accidently spill paint from time to time). This airbrush impressed me and I was very comfortable using it.

Double­action, internal mix, gravity feed

Airbrush #6Iwata Revolution CR

I picked up the High Performance HP-B while I still had my Revolution CR, so that I could do finer spray­ing than was possible with the Revolution CR. Overall this is a high-quality airbrush, with a finer needle.I still have this airbrush today, and use it regularly for fine details.

Double­action, internal mix, gravity feed

Airbrush #7 (current)Iwata High Performance HP-B

14April 2017

At one point I sold my Revolution CR to someone to introduce him to Iwata <grin> so I needed a replace­ment for medium­scale work. I like the larger colour cup, and the nozzle assembly is smartly designed and robust. However to this day I still do not know the rea­son for the handle cut­out.I still have this airbrush today, and use it regularly for medium­ coverage work.

Airbrush #9 (current)Harder & Steenbeck

Infinity 2-in-1

Double­action, internal mix, gravity feed

This is my Holy Grail of airbrushes, nothing else com­pares when it comes to ultra-fine spraying. The Infinity 2­in­1 model comes with a lot of great features: me­dium & ultra-fine needle/nozzle combos, different siz­es of replaceable colour cups, different nozzle caps, etc. etc. etc.. The best features (for me) are the needle preset/fine adjustment, and the fact that it shares the same large airline fitting as Iwata. Fit & finish are ex­ceptional.When I first received the Infinity, the fine needle tip was bent and it had split the micro­size nozzle, so I re­ceived warranty replacements quickly.I have used this airbrush for very fine touch-ups at very low air pressures, and it constantly amazes me. Needless to say, I am very careful when I use and clean it.

PISTOL GRIPDouble-action internal mix,gravity feed

Airbrush #10 (current)Grex Tritium TG3

Airbrush #8 (current)Iwata Eclipse HP-CS

internal mix,gravity feed

Double­action

On a lark, I decided to see what all the fuss was about with pistol-grip airbrushes. Originally I got a Neo, but I was unimpressed with the fit & finish, so I returned it (unused) and bought a Grex. The first thing I did was disassemble the beast to see how it went together. The fit & finish are great.To me this is still an odd bird, and I am still getting used to it. The 2­stage trigger works completely differ­ently than pen-type airbrushes: pulling to first detent gets the airflow going, additional trigger pull controls the paint volume. With a uni­directional trigger, there is no way to vary the air pressure while spraying.Long-time muscle memory is difficult to overcome, or maybe you cannot teach this old dog new tricks. (Pick your cliché.) I only trust myself to use the Grex for large coverage painting... so far.

15April 2017

Airfix’s new 1/48 Sea Hurricane Mk.Ib is sched­uled for release in May... shortly after you read this. It’s essen­tially the same kit as their Hurri­cane, which did include alternate Sea Hurricane parts so we knew this would be coming.

While not used operationally by Canada, you can still build a Sea Hurricane Ib that has Cana­dian content... sort of.

Z7015 is a flying example currently in the Shut­tleworth collection. It was built by Canadian Car & Foundry and first flown on 18 January 1941. After being shipped to England it was issued to

General Aircraft for conversion to Sea Hurricane IB standard. On 19 July, it was delivered to HMS Heron (RNAS Yeovilton), collected 29th July 1941 by 880 Squadron and went to the Orkneys. On 7 October the Squadron left to embark on HMS Indomitable but during transit Z7015 went unserviceable and was not brought along. On 5 April 1942 the aircraft was delivered to Da­vid Rosenfield Ltd for repair. On December 7 it was delivered to the Naval Fighter School (759) Squadron at HMS Heron and by autumn 1943 had moved to Loughborough College as an in­structional airframe.

16April 2017

The Greenwood Military Aviation Museum, CFB Greenwood, NS – www.gmam.ca

North Atlantic Aviation Museum, 135 Trans Canada Hwy., Gander, NL – northatlanticaviationmuseum.com

The Alberta Aviation Museum, 11410 Kingsway, Edmonton – www.albertaaviationmuseum.com

British Columbia Aviation Museum, 1910 Noresman Rd, Sidney, BC – www.bcam.net

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, 9280 Airport Rd. Mt. Hope, ON – www.warplane.com

The Comox Air Force Museum, Bldg. 11, 19 Wing Comox, Lazo, BC – www.comoxairforcemuseum.ca

17April 2017

It’s simple! All you have to do is have some IPMS Canada flyers available in your shop. Or if you only do mail­order, include one in each of your shipments. We’ll

even provide a supply of flyers.Join your fellow vendors who have adverts here. Support IPMS Canada and let

IPMS Canada help support you.If you’re interested, just contact us at box626@ipmscanada.com

ATTENTION MEMBERS: Does your hobby shop know about this? Show them!

It’s springtime!Have you got your

IPMS Canada gear?Check it all out at:

www.cafepress.com/ipmscanadaand get yours!

18April 2017

19April 2017